The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 approved by the Senate on an 87-7 vote Thursday includes language that directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to study the feasibility of adding the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford to the list of monuments and historic sites owned and operated by the U.S. National Park Service.

The provision was introduced by Senator Warner and co-sponsored by Senator Webb. The two Virginia senators had introduced similar, stand-alone legislation June 8.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a rape that occurred on Goodview Road on Monday July 20.

The victim reported to investigators that she was walking down Goodview Road, between 11 p.m. and midnight Monday night, when she was offered a ride by an unknown white male. She reported that after getting in the car, the suspect drove her to a railroad service road on Goodview Road and forced her to have sex.

Larry Stanecker couldn’t have chosen a better time to go to work for Grumman Aircraft Engineering.

Stanecker, who now lives in Goode, took the job with Grumman in 1968 when the company was knee-deep in its efforts to build the lunar landing module, or LEM, that would help man land for the first time on the moon. A year later that effort would pay off.

This past week, as NASA celebrated the 40th anniversary of man setting foot on the moon, Stanecker looked back in amazement of that event.

On Monday, Frederick Hancock was arrested and charged with the malicious wounding of his girlfriend, Jamie Klimaitis, and is being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Bedford on no bond.

On Sunday July 26, at 4 p.m., the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Roanoke Memorial Hospital reporting that they were treating a gunshot victim. The caller advised that the shooting had occurred at 2527 Bandy Mill Road, Hardy in Bedford County.

The charges against a 32-year-old man who fled from police following a traffic stop last month, injuring a Bedford city police officer in the process, will be heard by a Bedford County Grand Jury.

Brian Aubrey Burnette had been charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer as the result of an incident in April, but that charge has been reduced to felony assault of a police officer. The charge stems from a stop made by Investigator Tim Stanley of the Bedford Police Department.

Stewart Grant came face to face with a bear last week. Fortunately there was a window in between them.

The Liberty High School teacher and head baseball coach was at his house on Vista Circle behind Bedford Memorial Hospital watching a baseball game downstairs when he noticed the visitor. Grant looked out a window and saw a snout sitting on his air conditioning unit. He got up to see what it was and quickly realized it was a bear.

The charges against a Rhode Island man accused of traveling to Bedford County to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex have moved forward to a Bedford County Grand jury.

Andrew Fitzgerald Holloway, of 774 West Shore Road, Warwick, R.I., waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Monday. He faces three charges of unlawful carnal knowledge, a Class IV felony, and two counts of communicating online with a female under the age of 15 years old for the purpose of soliciting carnal knowledge, a Class IV felony.

The 2010 race for the 5th Congressional District seat won’t feature a Goode/Perriello rematch.

Last November, Virgil Goode lost the 5th Congressional District seat to Tom Perriello, a Democrat, by 722 votes out of a total of 317,076 votes cast. Goode had served in the House of Representatives since 1997.

In March, Goode filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. This allowed him to explore a run for Congress and accept campaign donations. He has now ended that exploration and decided not to run.